The Sims

The Good
What I am about to do here is give this game justice. I am going to give this game the respect it deserves.

What I am going to do is tell how this game single-handedly created tons of expansions, single-handedly got girls interested in gaming, and single-handedly changed the meaning of get a life. This game forces you to utilize your imagination to crate deep stories and cool-ass families. This game single-handedly changed the simulation genre forever.

For some reason I feel this game has been forgotten. It has been lost in a quagmire of expansions, until the “Sims-mania” has been lost in some pyromaniac teens mind after torching a family of eight Sims in this game. This game deserves more.

With a liter of soda by my side and a good day set off for me to come up with the right words, I will begin with the game play. On the surface it is a typical simulation. Starting out with your family you have nothing but $20,000. Gradually you get a job, go to work, build up some of your skills, and start a family. Then you start to get some expansions. Throw a few parties, make some “interesting” friends (and I literally mean “make”). Eventually you climb up the social ladder and become rich.

To one, this may seem like a boring game. But throw in some imagination and the possibilities become unlimited. To talk about this, however, is redundant as I believe Vaelor has already summoned up the games potential quite nicely.

Quote (borrowed with permission from Vaelor’s review):

Use a little imagination. Switch to a blank neighborhood (with expansion packs installed, there are 8 neighborhoods to use) and play creatively. Make a little story. Write bio's for your Sims, and make them act and interact as your story befits. Is your military general Sim disgusted with those bisexual binge-drinking party animals that have moved in next door and keep him awake all night? Has your crazy old Sim slipped slowly into dementia after years of neglect and now lives in a house of filth and disarray which is avidly avoided by the neighborhood children? Is Robert, the successful college professor, having an affair with Jim's wife Candace, the famous journalist? Will Jim, the pro athlete, smash Robert's head in when he comes home early one day and finds them in bed together? Design, script, and enact your own little soap opera with your neighborhood full of unique personalities, and get ten times the gameplay out of The Sims.

I believe that Vaelor is correct in stating that if you use your imagination, anything is possible. Tons of options are available to you if you improvise and use your imagination. You know. That thing that you had before video games ruined it. Real life is boring, so mix it up a little in your own Sims game. Create your little own version of you. Then make your friends in your neighborhood. Anything is possible when you put your mind to it and take the story into your own hands. Want to create a military prison where you invite your neighbors over only to trap them in glass tanks? Go right ahead. Want to live in a purple house? Want everyone to live in a purple house. Do you like corrupt government? Or do you want to see what would happen to people if society had alternate standards? Please try it out! Not only this, but you can go into the game files and put your own mp3s in there, so your Sims can listen to your favorite songs on the radio. You are only limited by your imagination!!!

The Sims is a toy. You don’t turn on a toy and expect it to control you. You control it. Like Legos or building blocks, you come up with your own open-ended game play. When a game is your toy anything at all is completely possible. And this is what the Sims does.

But that is still not it. Create these deep delicate stories and share them on the internet. People everywhere share their stories with others over the internet to create a huge database of stories and people. Share your albums. Print out your stories and store them away until one day you will find them and (possibly) share them with children and grandchildren. Every day there are more items being released by the creators of the game. There are more fan items available for download than there are items available from expansion packs. And then you can indulge yourself in other Sims’ lives as well. I once read a great story of a lawn gnome who gets revenge on his new master after he gets drunk one night and kills his other lawn gnome friend. Tons of people love to read about your experiences in The Sims.

And then there is the added bonus of construction. You get the bonus of being able to construct your very own house like you want it. It doesn’t have to match or be themed. It’s your house; you make it the way you want to. Every house you make is different and unique to yourself. In fact, most of the time the house you make is one-of-a-kind (that is if you make it yourself) in the entire Sims universe. Even if you don’t like running someone’s life you can construct houses the way you want. Then when you are done, you can enter people into the house with different personalities to see how they react. If you make a play house, make some Sims with high ‘playful’ personalities into it and see how they react. I even remember once going to a party and a mom saying that her child played The Sims, but she played it as well because she liked interior decorating.

The AI needs to be noted here as well. Or technically, the simulation aspect needs to be noted. It is sometimes hard to notice when you are caught up and addicted, but the AI system has a nice affect upon your Sims decisions. It actually took me a few years to realize this as well. However all of the personality traits affect your Sims actions, reactions, moods, and likes and dislikes. For example, if you put low ‘playful’ stats on your Sim, he (I will be using males pronouns from now on to make it easier) will be interested in books more, and play computer games and pinball machines less. He will also dislike dancing and like to talk more. However if you put more ‘playful’ stats on your Sim, he will like video games more, and will be bored (or at least less entertained) by long conversations. This is just from one character trait. There are 5 character traits in total which take into account your Sim’s personality and likes/dislikes.

Also, each and every Sim develops likes/dislikes and develops certain instincts and associations. Using the example before, if you put high ‘playful’ stats on your Sim, he will like computers more. If he plays it more and more, he will develop and interest in it, and when left on free will, he be more likely to go play the computer and opposed to watch TV or play pinball. You will notice your Sims talk about their interests more in conversation as well. And they even have their own language, which you cannot understand but you can definitely sense their tone and mood. Your Sims will even remember whose bed is who’s in your house, and if you leave the free will option on, the Sims will only sleep in their own bed (unless you tell them otherwise). The Sims can love or hate different things in your house depending on their character traits. This is just a sample of what the game can really do.

Even the graphics of this game are a thing all their own. The isometric view complements the game well. Everyone thinks that even though it is isometric the graphics can’t be good. This is wrong. Even though 3D graphics have come out in more recent titles, the isometric view is the classical view. It adds to the Sims feel that will never leave you. I won’t say that every graphic is amazing, but every texture and object is done fairly well to make this game’s graphics seem original. And truly they are. These graphics weren’t ripped from another game, like every first person shooter tends to do these days. They are good and they add to the originality of game play.

And I suppose no review is complete with a section about music and sound effects. Well I will say one thing. The musical score is completely original, and GOD does it make this game good. It is perfect for the mood. When you’re shopping, it plays cheery shopping mall and infomercial songs that really perk you up. While building a house, the music is somber and moving, to simulate that you are changing your home and thusly changing your life, and creates a nice peaceful mood while you contemplate and work. I can guarantee you that the tunes will stay with you for years to come. Even now I feel nostalgic thinking of the shopping themes that I have always enjoyed.

The sound effects, I will say, are nothing truly out of the ordinary. Lucky for you, they aren’t too annoying (except for the sound effects of the cartoons. I hate those sound effects). The big deal here is that they are satisfactory in delivering a great game with some great music and good sound.

And last but certainly not least, the Sims is one of the funniest games to play. Watching the Sims interact with each other is extremely funny. Like if you try to kiss someone, they may lean away and slap you. Or when one of the Sims tries to clean the toilet, they say “yuck!” and how two women can get in a cat fight and one of the women moves away. Okay, maybe reading this review doesn’t make it seem funny when you see it actually happen you can’t help but smile and sometimes laugh out loud.


The Bad
There are a few things wrong with the original one which I must point out. Some of these things have been made better by expansions, others have not. First of all, this game has very little items you can choose from. I was actually surprised by how few items were actually in the original game than I remembered. Also, the same thing goes with the bodies and heads for people. I was looking for a long time trying to choose from the limited selection which one went best with what my friend looks liked. However, you are in luck. The expansion ‘The Sims: Livin’ Large’ expansion triples the amount of items, heads and bodies, and each expansion effectively adds more and more as you go on. So do not fret.

This is one thing that every person on the planet hated: you can’t go over other people’s houses. Yep, that’s right. The only house you can go to is your own. The only way to go over another person’s house is to take control of that family and invite yourself over, and even then you cannot control your character’s actions. Also, in the original Sims, the only neighborhood is your own, with nowhere else to go (meaning downtown and vacation, which come out in later expansions). These things become available in later expansions, but for now there is only your house. Also, the only Sims that will visit your house are the ones in your own neighborhood, which make it somewhat boring to not be able to see randomly created visitors. This is probably the worst fault of the game, as you house will become quite boring after playing in it for 5 straight hours.

Also, once your family is created, you can NEVER go back and change them. This is most of the time not a problem at all. However, when you want to make a story, everything must be premeditated, because you cannot go back and add a new character to the family. The only way to deal with this is to add the new character into a new family, and move them into a different house in the neighborhood. Then you must get your relationship up to 100% and ask them to move in with you, and hope that they say yes. That is the only way. I also have similar problems with pictures. You cannot change the order of pictures in your album, meaning if you want to go back and add a new frame in between two other pictures, you have to delete all the pictures after them. Luckily, you can always change the caption under the pictures, which is VERY good when you need to change your story.

Sometimes the Sims can get a little dull if you continually play the same pattern over and over again. Also, sometimes when you don’t take into consideration their moves, they seem more like robots than people. The more you play the more may feel that this game is becoming a huge repetition of the same day. This, however, can be remedied by mixing it up a little and using your imagination. Like I said, this games potential lies in what can be achieved when you use your imagination. If you don’t do this, it can lead you to think that the game lacks any real potential or any content.

Also, I can safely say that the Sims isn’t the most realistic game out there. Even though it’s supposed to be a simulator, it doesn’t mimic ALL aspects of real life. The time goes a lot faster, so doing one task like getting up to grab a plate then sit down again can take a half an hour in the game (30 seconds in real life). And you also get paid everyday, there are no seasons, you never wash your clothes, you never go outside of your neighborhood, and days seem to have no meaning as every day is the same. But Hell, who says that needs to happen. The Sims is meant for extravagant living, so who cares about those things! Still though, some people will find some problems with these things.

Also, despite the fact that you can put them on free will mode, the Sims you have cannot survive on their own. The only thing they tend to do is eat, which is especially frustrating because it ruins the idea of a simulator. Technically, it still is a simulator, but you have to do a lot of babysitting to make sure they don’t die (they seriously can die). This really makes it annoying. The Sims are just not self-sufficient at all.

This leads me to my next subject. Sometimes the Sims are just idiots. Even though the simulation aspect is built in very nicely, Sims can be very dumb. I find that in large families with one bathroom, the doorway gets clogged. Both Sims will not move to let the other through, and as a result the Sims may stand there for hours waiting for the other to move. Even under your watchful eye, the Sims just do some stupid things that make you wonder what the IQ of your Sims even are. It also makes you wonder if the game has more to offer, which it does, however you may feel otherwise after watching some stupid moves on account of the Sims.

If you haven’t noticed before, in order to get this game’s full potential, you need to have a lot of the expansions. I have said a few times in this review “this is added in later expansions”. This is true. Most of the problems that come with this game are usually corrected in the expansions. But as said by Vaelor, “Is your Sims life more important than your own?” How many expansions are you really going to buy? The original game is amazing, but it pales in comparison in how much you can do with all of the expansions. Sure, there is still A LOT to do, however you are missing out of a lot of different things that the expansions offer. You barely have 1/10 of the total items you can get (1/1000 if you include the fan created items and people). You can’t throw parties, you can’t go on dates or go downtown and open your own shop, you can’t go on vacation, and you can’t get any pets either (save for fish). This is really a shame to have to get the expansions just to get the games full potential. I really need to tell you that the original Sims does not offer enough to satisfy your urge. With some expansions, you will love it. But this is not to say that The Sims is not worth it, but getting the expansions will enhance the experience greatly.

But don’t get depressed yet. You are saved. Recently, the entire collection, including the original and all of the 6 or 7 expansion, came out on a collaboration disk. Even better, they come in original graphics and form. Nothing has been altered at all. The minimum system requirements are 800 MHz (.80 GHz!!!) and only 3 gigs of hard drive space, which is amazing for 7 games in one. Lucky for you!!!

And lastly, this game is ADDICTING. I do not know if that is a good or bad thing to you at all. However, sometimes it can be bad. Otherwise productive hours can be spent on this game. I have sometimes spent entire days living out the life of one of my Sims, only to have five hours pass and to ripped away from my beloved game. To add on to that, there are some days where you literally waste an entire day. Most of the time, I can get plenty done in the time frame of five hours, but sometimes all I end up doing is getting some paychecks and nothing else. But even so, there must be something to be said about addicting games. You may be able to know when to quit, but do your children know? Does you husband or wife know when its time to quit? If you plan on buying this game for a relative or friend, take into account these things. People have been reported to lose sleep, works, and schoolwork to get time to play these games. WARNING: If you or some you know has an addictive personality or usually have less than an hour of free time a day, then stay away.

The Bottom Line
This game is one of the most amazing games to have ever come out. It changed the industry in ways never imagined before. Never had a game created such a cult phenomenon that has lasted to this day. Even today it ranks in game magazines’ and websites’ Top 100 Games of All Time lists and it is usually under #30.

This game literally becomes your second life. After years and years of playing this game you will create memories for years to come. One day you will see this game and say “Wow, I remember this one time I created this family and….” Even five years after its release I still find it horribly addicting. Its combination of open-ended game play, subtle Easter eggs they hide into the game (who could forget Shiny Things Inc and their president Malcolm Landgraab), its laugh out loud moments, and he ever-lovable Sims themselves.

I cannot stress enough that it is never too late to join The Sims universe. The Sims universe is always welcoming new members that we can share experiences with. With the new collaboration that came out with ever expansion on it, there is no better time to join the Sims then now! Don’t pass up the chance to play The Sims. If you have never done so then you need to feel what millions of others around the globe have felt from this game. Don’t pass it up. The Sims is a game no gamer should ever miss. Ever.

Special Thanks to Vaelor for permission to use his quote. You are kind and generous for allowing me to use it. This review would not be complete without it. For those reading this review please take time to read his full review here. Both he and I would appreciate it. Thanks.

The Good
The Sims is a very diferent kind of game that does not fall into any one category. The main premise is to control your customized Sim through life; You start with $20,000 to build your house and find a job. The meat of the game is when you control your Sim through everyday life; finding friends, relationships, getting a job, etc. The strange part is that there is something addictive about living everyday life; heck, you could build your own real house and live out your real life...in this game. It is also one of the funniest games ever; an example is when my Sim fell in love with someone, and she was married to a guy named Mortimer. The next day, I pranked the police and then Mortimer came by, so I figured I'd let my Sim beat up on him for some revenge. (My Sim was so depressed I couldn't get him to find a job or do anything almost). I chose the attack command to attack him, but then the Police officer came by and my Sim pi$sed his pants because his bladder was low and I got arrested! There is a limitless supply of things you can do in The Sims; you can even hold parties. The bad part is that you can't go over to other people's houses; the whole time you stay where you live, but this does not detract much from the game. Go buy The Sims now, it's a great game.

The Bad
Sometimes it can get boring if you keep repeating what you did the previous day, and so on.

The Bottom Line
A simulation where you make a person (Sim) and take them trough everday life and can even make a family.

The Good
Although I doubt Origin had anything to with it, at least it's good to know that some people are still creating worlds out there...

If there was one game that created an interesting cultural gaming revolution, this was one of those games that will be in the "positive light" of the gaming hall of legends.

The Sims was the next best thing since the Ultima Series at least, again in the concept of creating worlds. The Sims a representation of any kid's dreams when it comes to role-playing. Come to think of it, this game really must be an RPG in every sense of the world: Playing a role, controlling characters, how they think and breath, developing them...an interesting option compared to actually starting a family :)

I won't go into any gameplay elements, since you can read that in other reviews, but I will tell you some interesting thing's I've noticed about the game. It's interesting how the game developers tried to mimic social behaviours of human and their standard way of life. Social needs, emotional needs, hygiene needs, and so on. Spesifically for social needs, it's interesting to see the attempt to mimic the social relations between one person and another: keep conversing with a person and eventually you'll fall in love with them. Although unrealistic, it is true in real life that if you at least try to communicate with people, it will improve relations. You'll see from this game that even a simple compliment or just a gesture will improve your relations with that person...and if you don't continue to establish a steady relationship, the level of friendship will eventually decrease. This magnificant experiment is something I have applied in real-life...at least the knowledge that anything you do actually does impact social relations with other people. The Sims at least in this light has a very good psychological education level.

I've also noticed on an external perspective that Sims created one of the most creative gaming communities out there. There are many websites out there that have custom made skins and objects. One of my personal favorites was Darth Maul and Homer Simpson. But one of my favorite elements in the Sims community was when the fans started creating stories through a string of screenshots complete with a plot and storyline. I've read some really A class storylines out there which are better than a lot of movies in comparison. An A+ for those Sims Fans out there who were blessed with the gift of storytelling!

The Bad
Everyone agrees that the Sims is a little unrealistic...something that really isn't surprising and a good attempt at it too! This "bad section" isn't really condemning the game (which is something I like to do), but I have given the game and the developers the benefit of the doubt, due to the creativity and ambition to which the game attempts to accomplish.

There are many unrealistic elements to the game...probably also to make gameplay more easier and less complicated. The first is about money. Getting money daily would be something really nice in real-life. You eventually turn yourself into a consumer in this game. Always saving to buy better things in life...if I were a left wing extremist, I would probably say this is capitalist propaganda into turning youth into consumers. Hahaha....and it would be a very effective propaganda too...since it's quite logical.

One thing that kinda was a let down is employment challenges. Sooner or later, you'll reach the highest level you can get, and out of boredom you'll change your job and start over. Speaking of boredom, this game eventually does reach that level of "been there, done that". The fact that mostly everything in the game is done manually eliminates a lot of challenges when it comes to external surprises. Even the neighbours are created by you. This game would be better if there were NPC's in the game...even a town...you can then focus on your single family. Don't know about other expansions, but I hope they'll reach a world where there is a whole town of Sims, complete with commerce and stuff. Now that would be really challenging!

The Bottom Line
If you actually have a life to live, it would be better to avoid this game since the "Sims World" is a whole lot better than real life....hahaha.

The Good
Like most Will Wright 'games', the Sims is a construction kit; a toy. You're given a set of basics and told to play make believe. Anyone who played with building blocks, chemistry sets, or even created complex stories for their toys will instantly love this game. There's no defined goals, no ending.

Part of the addictive nature of the Sims is the fact that it's open ended. When my co-workers caught the Sims bug, one played a number of very straight laced familes, while another created a house only a drugged-out artist could love and proceeded to be the town bum, eventually having his wife leave him and his kids sent to military academy. A third created an Austin Powers Sim who lived with seven women...and tried to keep relationships going with all of them without causing a fight. On the web come stories of everything from militia type compounds to insane asylums to one demented soul who kept his neighbors in glass rooms. What other game gives you this much flexibility?

The graphics are beautiful and functional, and give the game a nice balance between 'cute enough for kids' and 'serious enough for adults'. The Sims wear various clothes, can play with little electric trains (that actually run on the table), watch TV, or lounge around in the hot tub.

The interface is simple and intuitive. The first time I played this was on a friend's PC and figured out all the commands without any assistance. This makes for both a game you can sit your children in front of and not have to test their patience training them...and a relaxing game to pass time with without having to think too much about where everything is.

For anyone who's ever harbored a deep, hidden desire to be an architect and/or interior designer, this game gives you plenty of options to play with. Maxis has been putting out new goodies for their registered customers on a nearly weekly basis, making this a never ending toolkit.

Last, but not least, is the community that the game has inspired. From the office banter (there was a point where we'd share what our Sims did the previous night!) to the thousands of fans online, there's a giant fan base that just loves to share anecdotes and home made add-ons. Your Sims will never want for anything new because there's now thousands of various types of clothes, wall paper, carpet, and even furniture/items.

The Bad
Although the Sims can technically take care of themselves if left alone, they merely survive, if possible. They don't really try to make themselves happy or excessively relaxed and you will often find unattended Sims leaving messes about the house and falling asleep wherever convenient (like a dog!). The micromanagement required sometimes is extreme and since many of the duties are as repetitious as they are in real life, it becomes tedious.

The pacing may also be an annoyance. There are multiple speeds the game can be played (some people who don't read the manual may never realize this) and it is almost essential that you speed up and slow down the game in order to enjoy it. Some tasks (like making dinner) can take an excessive amount of time (often near a Sim hour to make breakfast...almost twice as long for dinner) and while the Sim may be enjoying himself watching TV, you're not really enjoying yourself watching him sitting there humming away. During these times you need to speed the clock up. But no sooner than you run at the increased speed does something vital happen, such as a friend you wanted to have visit knocking on your Sim's door, or the Sim deciding to make another meal and setting the kitchen ablaze, throwing you back into normal speed. For many, the speed changes become second nature, but it's odd pacing at first, and annoying forever to some.

Your Sim's job is, unfortunately, done behind the scenes, so there's little to do while they're away at work or school. Perhaps Maxis will come out with an expansion pack called 'Sims at Work', although it would have to be much more expansive; currently the only action you get to see is your neighborhood. Like living on some commune miles away from anyone else, the only Sims your Sim meets are those who live a block away. Random outsiders would have been nice.

Some would add that a lack of multiplayer ruins part of the game. I disagree if only because I could just see an online Sims neighborhood with people walling each other in their houses, stealing from each other, and generally causing whatever mischeive they can. I'd rather keep my social experiments self-contained and controlled.

No pets (well, aside from the original fish and the newer caged animals)! Perhaps Wright and crew felt the user had enough babysitting to do, but it would've been fun to have had a dog or cat as a family member...even with the same stats of 'Neatness', 'Outgoing', etc...

The Bottom Line
Waaaaay back when computers running at 2MHz were considered fast, there was a game from Activision called 'Little Computer People', in which you 'adopted' a person who lived in your PC and watched him live. Anyone remembering and loving that game will fall instantly for the Sims.

The Sims is a house-building/social interactivity toy that allows you to build up a neighborhood, populate it, and watch the neighbors interact. It's fun and addictive for a long time and may be a nice educational tool to teach kids how much effort goes into maintaining a healthy, happy lifestyle while bringing in a decent income (if a family member is thinking about having a baby without putting much thought into it, allow them to play the Sims and let their Sims have a baby. It'll show them how much work it is).

The Good
I remember playing Sim City 2000 a long time ago and thinking 'you know, wouldn't it be cool if I could zoom in far enough to see the people in those houses?'. Little did I know that Maxis had that idea too, though on a far grander scale.

The Sims came out at the same time as Sim City 3000, and I picked both up in a bundle pack. At first I was more interested in reliving my city building days, but soon I picked up the idea of watching a Sim go about its every day life while having control of certain aspects.

It soon became obvious to me why so many people had become addicted to the game. The combination of having the chance to live out a life exactly as you want it to through the eyes of a digital character, and at the same time creating an addictive puzzle/strategy hybrid was hard to put down. Every day I'd come back and play out another few days of my characters life, building up the home and creating a family atmosphere.

The level of freedom to do as you please was, at the time, unheard of. Even Sim City had its limitations, but here you could live out an entire life for as long as you could stand your character. Even the house building mode was just as entertaining.

The Bad
Since the Sim craze has faded just a little bit from the original magic, that addictive like nature does tend to fade with it. You can make as many lives, houses and families as you like, but in the end it all works out similarly to before. Expansion packs and downloads help to starve complete boredom, but it will set in eventually.

The other thing that I did think brought the game down just a tad was in the characters themselves. They moved well, performed just about all you ask them to, but once in a while they go off on you and doing strange, if not disturbing, things. Put it down to a lack of true AI development, perhaps.

Maxis hasn't always been known for its best musical scores either. The Sims had some nice shiney tunes, the kind of tunes that would grate on your mind and you'd whistle constantly long after putting down the keyboard. Catchy, yes, but annoying, definitely. A little more variety (as seen in The Sims 2, for example) would have been an advantage.

The Bottom Line
The Sims was, put simply, a brilliant concept that was developed into an entertaining game. All problems aside, it's probably the most addictive game out there.

Forgetting the fact that there have been probably a few too many short lived expansion packs and the rushed out Sims Online, Maxis moved itself out of the shadow of Sim City, so much so that The Sims is the new flagship title in the arsenal.

The question is, will it be remembered for its uniqueness, or for being so addictive that people were living out their lives almost the same as the characters themselves...

The Good
It seems to me that most of the reviews for this game were written waaaay back when it first came out four years ago - before all the expansion packs, version patches, and literally hundreds of both official and user created items, skins, and packs hit the gaming community...

Well, I have to say, The Sims is a game that just keeps on kicking. Four years later, and I still can't put this one down. The SimCity series came frightening close to rivaling Sid Meier's Civilization series as the all-time most addictive time waster in computer gaming history. The Sims makes Civ almost seem like a flash in the pan fad.

The sheer scope of this game makes it endlessly playable. Play with a little imagination, and you really will start to notice the hours, days, and weeks roll by...

Traditionally, the way the game was "meant" to be played, you create a Sim and you strive to help him/her excel in every aspect of his (I will use the male adjective from here on for convenience) life. In the beginning, your Sim is unemployed, homeless, and lonely. With $20,000 in his pocket and no possessions but the clothes on his back, it's up to you to buy him a block of land and build a house on it, get him a job and help him earn a living, find him a partner, maybe start a family. The many expansion packs released expand the scope even further - buy him a pet or three, take him on a holiday, make him a superstar!! It's your job to take this little virtual guy from zero to hero and everywhere in between.

But that's just the beginning...

So, your Sim is married with children and living in a mansion with his pockets bulging with cash, he's been to the pinnacle of every career path you've thrown at him, so now what? This is getting boring, right?

Wrong.

Use a little imagination. Switch to a blank neighborhood (with expansion packs installed, there are 8 neighborhoods to use) and play creatively. Make a little story. Write bio's for your Sims, and make them act and interact as your story befits. Is your military general Sim disgusted with those bisexual binge-drinking party animals that have moved in next door and keep him awake all night? Has your crazy old Sim slipped slowly into dementia after years of neglect and now lives in a house of filth and disarray which is avidly avoided by the neighborhood children? Is Robert, the successful college professor, having an affair with Jim's wife Candace, the famous journalist? Will Jim, the pro athlete, smash Robert's head in when he comes home early one day and finds them in bed together? Design, script, and enact your own little soap opera with your neighborhood full of unique personalities, and get ten times the gameplay out of The Sims.

But wait, there's still more!

With an in-game home editor which was utterly unparalleled prior to the release of The Sims 2, half the fun is just designing the houses! Forget the annoying people, crack open that lot editor and design your dream mansion, a haunted castle, or a tiki dream house made entirely of bamboo (yes, even the TV and toilet!). Get away from the boring modern workaday life of your regular Sims with hundreds of unique downloaded item sets, clothing, and building tools, to create anything from an opulent Roman villa for your decadent orgies, a medieval castle for your dignified monarchs to rule, or a Presidential White House from which your political Sims can rule the western world! Or if Western is your thing, put your steer's horns over the bar, your hitching post out the front, and watch your Sims backside on those swinging doors as you build the Wild West saloon of your dreams!

But okay, so history and fantasy aren't your thing, right? You're a more sensible, down-to-earth kinda person, hey? So, forget the fun - the Sims building editor is surprisingly useful as an architectural design tool! Go ahead - make a exact working replica of your own real-life house! Then knock out that back wall and see what your home would look like if you installed that indoor pool you've been thinking about! Test your memory by recreating homes you lived in as a child - can you really remember where every little household item was placed? With enough time and patience, you can fill a whole neighborhood with simulated houses from your real life, and then renovate, demolish, or just see what a Sim would think of your actual house!

And as clichéd as it may sound to the uninitiated - this is just the beginning....

The Bad
Like I said: The Sims is - and don't mistakenly think I'm exaggerating here - as addictive as crack. Look through the other reviews here - I'm not the only one to say this. If you play this game for ten minutes and find you enjoy it, take my advice: put it down for a moment, and SET YOUR ALARM CLOCK, or you will forget you exist until starvation, dehydration or exhaustion finally claim your addicted body.

Seriously, this game should come with a warning label. I couldn't tell you the number of times I've sat down to play this game in the early evening, and looked up from the monitor an hour later to see the sun rising outside. "What the?! Where did the whole night go?!" Oh, that's right - your Sim had three promotions, got a new girlfriend, and added another wing to his house today.

The Bottom Line
I once said in regards to Civilization, and I say again here with twice the emphasis: If you have a job that you're expected to show up to, if you have family or relationship commitments, if you have health problems, an addictive personality, or anything else that is important to you and needs your attention in real life - don't play this game. If you let it, The Sims will consume your life until you are nothing more than a husk who only exists for tiny virtual people to thrive on your energy...

The Good
I like the game, heck, I love the game. It's a lot of fun if you want to kill four hours and then look back sadly, wondering where they went. On the other hand, the gameplay is fun and often funny. Good graphics, good music. I never considered myself much of an interior decorator, but I have to admit, building houses is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the entire game.

The Bad
There was, however, a lack of substance within the game. I didn't really see much of a reason to have a personality modifier when you were creating new Sims. The only way they really factored into the character is how much your Sims clean up after themselves, and how often they took showers. I would have definitely loved to see more diverse personality options. I always tried to make "tough guy" Sims, like a Mafia Family, but I could never get my Sims to cooperate with that idea. I don't think John Gotti would wave to people he didn't know and answer the door for every Joe Schmoe who comes a'knockin'. In any case, the only other complaint that I have is in all of the expansions coming out now. For a newbie Simmer, the choices at the store can be quite intimidating. You have the original Sims, House Party, Livin' Large, Hot Date, Unleashed, Vacation, Superstar, Makin' Magic, and the soon-to-be-released Bustin' Out...I mean, come on! I love the Sims as much as any gamer, but I have to say, someone is going to be putting a pretty penny into trying to collect all of these and try to stay on top of Sims releases.

The Bottom Line
A good game for those of you who have way too much free time (like myself). It's fun, it will give you a chuckle at times, and all and all will add up to a relatively entertaining gaming experience. A word of advice though; Don't blow all of your money buying every Sim expansion out there right now. If you're like me and most others, you have bills to pay and something more worthwhile to spend your paychecks on. If you've got about three-thousand dollars to spare, however, I'd say GO FOR IT!

The Good
Who knew being a micromanaging control freak would be so much fun? Apparently the folks at Maxis did. This game is amazing. What other game even tries to combine interior decorating, architecture, and interpersonal relationships?

Appealing, not for its scope, but for its detail. Also, with the add-ons and the support of Maxis and the online community, this game keeps growing. There is no end to this game, just more options.

The Bad
Time in the Sims world is troublesome. Everything takes a really long time to accomplish. More troublesome, though, is how playing The Sims affects time in the real world. If you get into this game you will wonder where the time has gone.

The Bottom Line
One of the few games that reaches out to both genders, The Sims is a masterpiece.

The Good
It's SO addictive. You'll eat Sims, you'll sleep Sims. No matter where you go, you'll always be thinking of them. You guide your Sims through life. You plan your own soap operas. You screw up family lives. You can put people in a box house with no windows. You can not feed them and watch them sleep on the floor. You can plant toilets outside their house and laugh as their neighbor walks by in dismay. You get them family friends. You advance them in their jobs. You buy them stuff. There's new stuff to download. All that equals fun gameplay and addictiveness.

The Bad
You can't visit other people's houses. Where's the item editor they promised? Where's the career track editor they promised? Why can't you go anywhere other than your own damned house? Sure, you can help your Sims advance in their careers, but they need family friends. Where do you get family friends? You make them, of course! Which means you must take control of another family. This brings to light the main deficiency that the Sims has. Sims are not self-sufficient. It's not cool that you don't have the option to leave your family friends alone to fend for themselves if you want to. You have to do everything for them. Relationships are also too easy. I can get married after the first date. Where's the reality in that?

The Bottom Line
If you knew nothing about this game before it came out, buy it. You'll LOVE it. If you did, prepare to be thoroughly disappointed, but prepare to have lots of fun.

The Good
I liked just fooling around this game. It's a toy, it's not a game. Just like all the good Sim games. The idea is great. The upgrades every week on the WWW page of the developer are just great. I every week have fired up the game just to see what has happened.

The Bad
The relationships in the game are just an add-on; nothing else. I think someone mentioned somewhere that Will Wright was doing Sim House before I realised the game was about the people. The game infact is just Sim House.

The Bottom Line
Handle people in their everyday lives.

The Good
I like many things about this game. The realistic actions the people made are excellent, they do not speak english (they use that weird jibberish language from SimCopter), but you can detect emotion behind their words. A little speech bubble pops up and tells you the topic they're talking about. The Sims can hate/love paintings you buy them, furniture, etc. You have complete control over their lives, and their houses and landscapings. Then you can customize it a bit, with the thousands of skins and custom objects on the internet or make your own.

The Bad
I didn't like how my Sims would wake up in the morning, get out of bed for 20 minutes, and then go grill hamburgers. The timing on it needs some adjustment. Also, even though your Sims could be a police officer, when your house is being robbed s/he just stands there watching the burgler waiting for the police.

The Bottom Line
Overall, the Sims is a terribly addictive game. It has a short learning curve, fun to play, easy to find skins and other custom objects. Buy your copy now.

The Good
First of all, The Sims gives "true control freaks" the opportunity to flex those 'need to dominate' muscles.

Second, The Sims is a universal game that people anywhere can relate to as you are in control of the environment. If you so desire to have a world ruled by delusional children or dysfunctional celebrity impersonators, so you shall. If you so desire to manifest a Utopian kingdom of faeries or an intergalactic space realm, so you shall. If you so desire to create a planet that embraces alternative (i.e., nontraditional) lifestyles or promotes the sloth way of living, so you shall. The Sim world is what you make it.

Third, you can live your life vicariously through your Sims. (Sinister SIMtastic images fill my mind at the thought.) Want to be an international beauty queen or a Doctor-of-Death? Do it. Want to live in a disgustingly purple house surrounded by beautiful alien women or drunk Kirk-like men? Do it. Want to own a limosine? Do that too! Sim users are only limited by the span of the imagination!

Fourth, the game gives the user the ability to be an architect-of-sorts (which is my absolute favorite part). We are talking CREATION and DESIGN from the ground up! Take me for instance...I finally completed my first TRULY original Japanese-styled Simhouse and intend to share it with the Sim World.

Fifth, The Sims is designed in a way that allows the user to manipulate objects in the environment. You can either create new objects to share on-line with others or simply modify old objects. Build houses, design objects, create skins, etc. GET THIS...Tools are actually available on-line FOR FREE, WITH instructions! (Yippee!!) The possibilities are endless.

Sixth, the game has educational value (believe it or not) in that it can teach the young ones (and the rest of us computer heads) a little about responsibility and a few social constructs of how relationships work. For example, Sims must maintain friendships or relationships by constant communication with other Sims. Otherwise complacency can bring a Sim relationship to an abrupt end.

NOTE: Adults should monitor the young playing The Sims for if they have an intrinsically violent nature, this too can be reinforced in the game. Remember, it is indeed what you make it.

Finally, there are literally hundreds of good THE SIMS sites on the web to download houses, skins, objects (including art and decorations), etc.

I could go on about the creative genius behind this seemingly SIMple game, but I want you to experience it for yourself! (...To put a few minds at ease, I do not work for MAXIS or EA.)

The Bad
I guess there must always be a downside to everything...

There are too many people who complain about every little creation or addition to the game without giving much thought to such terminology or phrasings as "upgrades" OR "patches" OR "looking at the positive side of things for a change."

As for the game itself, The Sims can be addictive. Seriously so! You may notice you no longer have friends or that your significant other cannot relate to the Sim sounds you have picked up from the game. You may also find that your boss is not amused to discover you called-in sick because you could not tear yourself away from the computer. Oh yeah...sleep is really a necessity and not just another 5 letter word. BUYER BEWARE! :)

In addition to the addictive aspects of The Sims, one would think with the popularity of the game, it could be a bit cheaper. COME ON MAXIS/EA!

Last (and FINALLY LEAST), there are limits to how realistic certain concepts are in the game. For instance, time is truly an illusion in Simsville; There are not enough objects to support multicultural households (very American oriented); A few of the tools released by Maxis are not completely user friendly for some and it would be nice to have a Sims Tool that allows modification of all file extensions used by the game instead of having a variety of tools for every file type - AAGGHHH!

The Bottom Line
I think the game is worth owning, if only to say I have had THE SIMS experience.

The Good
The first time I heard about this game I was told that you could pretty much do what ever you wanted to do. As in you could go down and rob the local store if you wanted to. So when I got the game I was obviously disappointed that I couldn't even leave the area of my house, so that being said here is my review.

The first thing I noticed when I started to play the game was the graphics, smooth around the edges and the game didn't seem to jump at all or have many bugs. I think that the Maxis / Electronic Arts team took about three quarters of the time spent making the graphics of the game perfect and then just adding a bit of game play in at the end.

The sound in The Sims was great. The little language that the Sims speak in can get a bit annoying after a while but it is still a nice touch to the game. And the language also makes the conversations between the Sims a lot more interesting. You can also hear you Sim / Sims grumbling if they are unhappy or if you have just woken them up in the middle of one of their peaceful little naps.

The game play, though the downfall of the game still had its high points such as, making the house is one of the most fun things to do in the game, and getting a job and watching as your house and your bank account expand. There quite a few jobs that the player can choose form such as a Army recruit or a journalist. If you get bored of just being a bachelor / bachelorette then you can try and get a person to marry and maybe even give you some children. And when you get a child then your character actually gets the pleasure of waking up at four in the morning because the baby is hungry or needs to be changed, and if you decide to neglect it then a social service person will come to your house and take the bundle of joy off your hands.

The Bad
As I said in the good review when I heard about The Sims I had quite a different idea of what I thought it was going to be like compared to what I actually played. Even though the graphics in the game were quite good they still had flaws such as, swimming around in the water there are no ripples or anything and it looks like he’s floating around in his own little patch of sky. And when the house was getting built and you could choose what kind of roof you wanted on top of your house, there was one size which looked quite normal but the other two just looked stupid and it was a waste being able to have them.

The Sims have their own little language. And it would not matter if the language was English it would still get incredibly annoying after a while and to be able to play the game I had to mute the sound so that I could not hear the sounds of the annoying Sims any more.

And now we come to the worst part of the game. You have to give your Sim(s) the attention that you have to give to a newborn baby. And its even worse when the Sim is a new born baby, and if you are not up within 30 minutes after it starts crying then the bloody social service woman gets there and takes it before it can even become a child. The most annoying thing by far about the Sims though is this: it takes so long to do ANYTHING. If you want to have a snack it will take your Sim about an hour to finish it, and its even worse if you want to actually have a full dinner. For example if I wanted to be up and be ready for work in my game then I would have had to be up four hours before my car pool arrived otherwise I would've been cutting it extremely close.

The Bottom Line
The Sims is a fun game for a while even though it takes the Sims ages as I said to do ANYTHING. If you are someone who is looking for a game that has no real ending and you have to be watching like a hawk every time you are controlling then go ahead and buy this game. If not then you will probably find The Sims to be annoying after a while you will be discarding it quite quickly.

The Good
The thing to like about "The Sims" is that it's completely unlike any other PC game ever made; in fact, it's not even really classifiable.

There's a tremendous amount of fun in building and furnishing a little house and moving your little people around the house, watching them interact and carry on with their lives. "The Sims" is really just a huge interactive dollhouse with a goofy sense of humor.

The Bad
Unfortunately, dollhouses get very dull after awhile. The Sims has three major problems one hopes will be worked out someday:

1. Many of the game's success factors and feedback systems are just completely arbitrary. For a Sim to advance in her/his career, they need to make a set amount of friends. There's no rhyme or reason to this, it's just something slapped on to make it harder to advance.

Other game idiosynchracies are similarly arbitrary and inexplicable. Days come and go and are all identical; there's no weekly routine, no difference between Sunday and Tuesday. Sims with jobs are expected to show up every day or not get paid. This might not seem like a big deal, but in a game where a Sim with a job has trouble finding time to do anything else, two days off in seven would be a huge help. There are no seasons. Sims never leave the house except to go to unseen workplaces. Some aspects of life are precisely detailed (e.g. going to the bathroom) while others are forgotten (e.g. wahsing your clothes.)

1. Much of the game is spent moving the Sims around doing the most rudimentary things, like peeing or showering. While this is fun for the first few hours, it gets tiresome. There's virtually NO higher-level planning at all; you don't get to decide to go to school or join a cult or go on a diet.

Indeed, when you've played the game for awhile, you start to realize that the game is just an efficiency puzzle. Since it can take a Sim ten or fifteen minutes just to stand up and half an hour to answer the phone, the game simply becomes a "How can I do eight different things with the minimum possible amount of walking?" exercise. Deviation from the most efficient pattern is unrewarded; when it can take an entire hour for your Sim to get off the couch, pick up a plate of food and sit down, you soon learn that impluse activities - the sort of thing real people do - just aren't in the cards.

1. Following 2, the truth is that the Sims themselves are boring as hell. A simple five-point personality trait vairable system has NO impact on gameplay. All Sims are the same, and they're basically robotic. They're remarkably shallow in many respects and demonstrate very little AI. You can increase a Sim's "fun" level by having the Sim do the same thing in and out, over and over again; it wasn't long before I realized that my Sims had absolutely no use for a stereo or a TV, since they could get fun playing with the computer. Sims don't react to one another very much, sometimes even bumping into each other helplessly.

In the end, in other words, it's really just a dollhouse.

The Bottom Line
Well, it's original.

The Good
The game is very promising. It has a great idea, a "people simulation" is one of the best simulation ideas ever.

The Bad
However, making a "people simulation" is a great challenge. A "person" is much more complicated than something that walks around doing "some stuff" to get by. They made the game really really restricted, to a bunch of activities and a couple of houses where you can't even leave the tiny neighborhood, so that they could publish numerous expansion packs to collect more money for the big fat zero their game offers. And what really pissed me off is the stupid time concept which leaves you without enough time for ANYTHING in the game. You get up, and that's 15-20 minutes even though you KNOW you have to go to work in half an hour. Every meal is about 30-60 minutes. Walking from a room to another is at least 5 minutes. So, basically, if you want to have a breakfast and go to work at 9 a.m., you have to get up at 5 a.m. so you can make it.

The Bottom Line
This is not a game, but a toy. People you control are not interesting at all and get boring really easy. Especially because they're too stupid to be human. So, you don't do anything, you just play around. If you're interested in watching someone miserably trying to live, then you might have fun, like many people worldwide who made this stupid game the best-selling computer game in history, breaking the record of a legendary game like Myst...

The Good
This game was fun, not to mention a great challenge. In fact, I have quite a new appreciation for the non-avid-gamers who have taken to The Sim's making it seem 'uncool' for the quality gamers out there. I had a hard time trying to get those arrogant little people to do their job and enjoy their house!!

Yet, overall I had a barrel of laughs a minute with this fun and creative game. The bare bones let me create a family and buy them a house. Then I got to decorate it, make sure everyone went to school and work, and with all the cool add-ons the Sim world just expanded and expanded!

The Bad
Leo's are hard to control. It makes me scared of my partner - he's a leo... I guess I wasn't too impressed with the whole star-sign side of the game. There was a lot relying on that with the social interaction, and how the sim felt about the house. For those not interested in that whole fairy-fairy aspect of the world, it's a bit of a pain in the arse that you have to take it seriously.

I also got a bit annoyed at my sim when they refused to get a job because they were depressed, yet were depressed because they had no job to earn money to buy their luxuries. I wished for a Dungeon Keeper add-on so I could slap my sim around!

The Bottom Line
This is not the stereotyped girls-only game, as we think of it in the gaming community. It was quite a challenge! It's like SimCity with people, not a game for people 'who need to get out of reality because they can't even control their own lives'...

I also found it very useful if redecorating your house. You can build a replica of your house and then use the editor to import the colours you were choosing. Very useful!

Oh, yeah.. get a virgo, I'm a virgo, easy to keep happy they are... ;)

The Good
Massively addictive when you first start. The graphics and sound are wonderful, but it is the totally compelling nature of the game which keeps you playing.

The Bad
After a few weeks of playing, I realised that it just doesn't go anywhere. Create your families, get them promoted, build their dream homes... and then what? It's the same with all SIM games (especially SIM City). After a while you realise that there's no end to the game, no greater purpose, and it's very easy to lose interest. Every now and then (say 6-8 months) you can go back to it a re-discover it all over again, but it never has any long term appeal.

The Bottom Line
Brillaint game, but without an end-point it can get boring.

The Good
Nice graphics and cool idea.

The Bad
I am a avid (hooked) gamer. I started a new game of this and found my self having my character playing a PC in his home. Now stop me if this sounds bad, but doesn't that justify all the things that our wives say to us when they dont want us to play on the computer. Here I am simulating a guy playing his computer. Now I am convinced that all hope is lost for me. As for the game I could not understand what all the hype is. Its just normal life on PC. For my time I want to command armies, build cities, solve murders. Not doing chores and sleeping on line. NO THANKS!

The Bottom Line
For those of you who have to sim EVERYTHING...

The Good
Watching the sims are perfect. The graphics help it. Even a psycho can love this game because of the cute animations of the sims. They are always doing the same things but their animations are so cute so you will not think that they are always doing the same thing.

The Bad
I think that's not a real simulation because there's nothing logical in the game. But who cares?

The Bottom Line
Even people who only love games full of blood like Soldier of Fortune will think this game is holy.

The Good
When I started playing this game, I wouldn't get off of it. Everyday after school, I found myself playing it. If I was at a friends, we were playing it! What I liked best was being able to create the homes and families. It's a great game if you like simulation. The graphics are awesome, and it's very humorous.

The Bad
One thing I didn't like about this game was that.....it's cost, that's all. Everywhere I looked, it was $49.95, even after a year of being released! I had to wait for school book orders, and they were $29.95 (but it was worth the wait!)

The Bottom Line
Looking for a game you'll be spending a lot of time on, and you still want to have fun? Buy this game, and if you need more, buy the expansions! I LOVED this game.